Chapter 83 Kung Fu Gemini
After Mingtian Film Company was established, Liu Hongmin immediately launched the project of "Shaolin Boy".
Xu Xiaoming doesn't have time at the moment, so the preparatory work will be done by Wang Yaowei.
"We have already decided on a few main characters, He Jiajin, Zhou Xingxing, Lan Jieying. You should mainly look for the villain Tieying, and then there is Xiaopi."
"What about the Shaolin boy?"
"I will look for them in the mainland, and when I go to the mainland to shoot the movie, I will bring the young actors with me."
Wang Yaowei then asked, "Boss, when the movie is being filmed in the mainland, can I go home to watch it?"
"No problem!" Liu Hongmin said with a smile, "I'll approve your leave after we return to the mainland."
"Thank you boss!"
Wang Yaowei was very excited. It has been almost ten years since he came to Hong Kong with He Renzong. He missed his hometown all these years and wondered if there were any changes at home.
With the motivation to go home, Wang Yaowei acted quickly. He interviewed many children, but he could not find the fat kid that Liu Hongmin wanted. However, there were many funny-looking children, but when he said he needed to gain weight, he was rejected by the parents.
The last child is Fan Shaohuang. He acted in movies when he was just able to walk and is a senior child star. His father is a martial arts actor of TVB, so he has been practicing martial arts with his father since he was a child and is very skilled.
Wang Yaowei recommended him to play the Shaolin Boy, but Liu Hongmin did not agree.
He had a brief conversation with Fan Shaohuang's parents.
"'The Young Master' is only our first film. We will be shooting a series of films in the future, all of which will use the two child actors. I know that Ah Huang is good at martial arts, but we value his cleverness more. There are only two requirements for child actors: one is audience appeal, and the other is communication skills. Ah Huang has both, so I value him very much."
Fan Meisheng said: "Since you said so, Ahuang is both popular with the audience and has communication skills, we can definitely go to other companies."
"Of course!" Liu Hongmin spread his hands, "But you have to think carefully. Other companies don't value Ah Huang as much as we do."
"We plan to train the two child stars into a group called the Kung Fu Twins. They will both be our main candidates until they reach adulthood. If they want to leave at that time, we will not stop them."
Fan Shaohuang will become a martial arts star like Fan Meisheng in the future. Liu Hongmin doesn't care. After ten years, if Fan Shaohuang still wants to leave, it means that the cooperation between the two parties is not happy, so what's the point of forcing it?
“These can all be written in the contract.”
When Fan Meisheng heard this, he looked at Liu Hongmin in surprise. You know, the bosses of film and television companies are trying their best to exploit actors, and many actors work like slaves for them all their lives. But Liu Hongmin only signed Fan Shaohuang until he reached adulthood. Doesn't this mean that he trained him and then let him go?
Liu Hongmin said sincerely: "Ahuang will still have more than ten years to grow up, which is enough time for both of us to develop. After more than ten years, if Mingtian Film and Television still can't retain people, it means that the development is not very good. By then, I will close the company myself."
With so many film and television resources in the future, if it still can't develop, it would be better to close down and go back to concentrate on writing books!
Fan Meisheng was speechless. This boss was quite confident.
However, since Liu Hongmin offered such generous conditions, he naturally agreed. After discussing some details, Fan Meisheng signed the contract. Liu Hongmin was very happy, and at the same time he told Fan Shaohuang to eat more high-calorie foods, so that he could gain some weight without affecting his health, so as to increase his sense of humor.
The casting was almost done, and Liu Hongmin immediately returned to Beijing. He contacted Wu Bin directly and told him about the casting.
Wu Bin welcomed this very much, and even said that he could get all the students in the martial arts school to act as extras for him. Of course, he would help his disciples get such an opportunity to be on camera.
Liu Hongmin thought about it and agreed. He even thought of the filming location. There was no need to go to Shaoshi Mountain to film, just find a temple near the capital and build a Shaolin temple in Beijing. It's a comedy! Don't take it too seriously, Hong Kong people don't understand it anyway.
As for whether Shaolin Temple will come to ask for copyright fees, Liu Hongmin doesn't care at all. How much money did you make from "Shaolin Temple"? Have you paid copyright fees?
Wu Bin invited Liu Hongmin to Shichahai Martial Arts School to watch the children train. Liu Hongmin soon saw a baby-faced girl who looked like the future superstar Wu Jing, and when he asked, he found out it was indeed the case.
Wu Jing looked at Liu Hongmin in a daze, completely unaware that her fate had undergone a drastic change.
Liu Hongmin took out a silicone headgear from his bag, which was worn by Hong Kong actors when they played monks. He asked Wu Jing to put it on, and the sense of humor immediately appeared.
"That's him!" Liu Hongmin said to Wu Bin, "But he needs to go to Hong Kong frequently to film, and he has to sign a contract with my company."
Wu Bin was overjoyed and immediately contacted Wu Jing's father, Wu Jinquan, a martial arts master who was good at mantis boxing and nine-section whip.
When Wu Jinquan heard that Liu Hongmin was going to sign Wu Jing, he was very worried. Wu Jing had been naughty since childhood and often skipped classes to go out and play. He was afraid that his son would become a bad boy after arriving in Hong Kong without anyone to supervise him.
After Liu Hongmin knew his concerns, he said, "Wu Jing doesn't need to stay in Hong Kong all year round. He will only go there when he is filming a movie. If he goes to Hong Kong, his family will accompany him and he will not be exposed to bad things."
He then took out the contract signed with Fan Shaohuang and showed it to Wu Jinquan. Wu Jinquan felt relieved after seeing the very detailed terms stipulated in the contract.
With Wu Jing on board, the Kung Fu Geminis were formed.
Wu Jing was very curious about making movies and felt that it was much more interesting than studying and practicing martial arts.
Liu Hongmin left Wu Jinquan's contact information, and then selected extras who were willing to play the monks. Of course, there was also the role of the abbot, and Liu Hongmin planned to cast Cheng Qiang from Zhaojing Film Studio to play the role.
When he went to Beijing Film Studio to find Cheng Qiang, he also met Lin Yong and discussed cooperation. The Beijing scenes needed to borrow the staff and equipment of Beijing Film Studio, which could save a lot of money and ensure the low cost of the film. Because it was unrealistic to get the same pay as Hong Kong in a short period of time, Liu Hongmin naturally had to make good use of this bonus to develop Mingtian Film and Television.
Don't say Liu Hongmin has a dark heart. He is also preparing to make the rich first and drive the poor. When tomorrow's film and television industry becomes strong, it will definitely promote the development of the mainland film and television industry.
Liu Hongmin also directly entrusted Lin Yong with the task of contacting the venue. Every profession has its own expertise, and Lin Yong is much better than Liu Hongmin in this regard.
After finishing the film project, school was about to start. Liu Hongmin found the teacher in charge of assignments at the school and arranged for Zou Shifang to be assigned a job.
The school assigned him to be an editor of the "Personal Information and Witness News". Now he has decided to stay in Hong Kong and needs to say hello to the school and the Witness News.
(End of this chapter)
